$25M RAISE Grant for 6 North Philadelphia School Slow Zones

On Friday, September 1st, US Senator Bob Casey joined the City of Philadelphia, State officials, the Philadelphia School District and local leaders at the Mary McLeod Bethune School to celebrate the launch of a $25 Million RAISE Grant that was awarded to six North Philadelphia School Slow Zones.

The City’s Office of Transportation, Infrastructure, and Sustainability (OTIS) and the Department of Streets will lead on the North Philadelphia School Zones Traffic Safety Project.

The organizations and agencies will collaborate to plan, design, engineer, and build slow zones around six schools: the Julia de Burgos Elementary School, the Kenderton Elementary School, the KIPP Philadelphia Elementary Academy, the Mary McLeod Bethune School, the Pan-American Academy Charter School, and the Potter-Thomas School.

“Thanks to the Infrastructure Investment and Job Act, school zones around six North Philadelphia schools will be safer for students, faculty and staff, and visitors alike,” said U.S. Senator Bob Casey. “Students’ families will have greater peace of mind when they send their children to school each day. Faculty and staff will have safer and more efficient commutes. Because of the infrastructure law, we’re going to keep Philadelphia students safe and keep our communities moving.”

The Principal of the Bethune School mentioned that two of their students were hit by drivers and a mother and her 3 children were killed all not far from the school.

This is the second RAISE grant awarded to the Philadelphia area in the last two years bringing crucial federal money to traffic improvement projects all through North and West Philly. We are so thankful for the work our state and federal partners are doing to invest in Philadelphia and we look forward to seeing these projects completed.